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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.
Click here to report a problem with this page.
Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "ibrahimz@yahoo.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Ibrahim Zongo <zongo_ibrahim@w.cn>
Reply-To: ibrahimz@yahoo.cn
Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2010 12:53:38 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: From Mr Ibrahim Zongo
Dear
I am Mr.Ibrahim Zongo. I am writing to request your assistance to transfer the sum of amount of Money into your account.The above sum belongs to our deceased customer who died along with his entire family in an accident .You can confirm the genuiness of the deceased death by clicking on this web site
http:http://www.miningweekly.com/article/bodies-recovered-from-sundance-resources-crash-2010-06-28
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-world/bodies-of-mining-execs-on-flight-home-20100708-100xe.html
After further investigation, I discovered that he died with his next of kin .I want you to stand as the next of kin so that our bank will accord you the recognition and have the fund transfered to your account.The total sum will be shared as follows: 55% for me, 45% for you.The transfer is risk free on both sides hence you are going to follow my instructions till the fund is transfered to your account. More detailed information with the form will be forwarded to you to breakdown comprehensively what is required of you.(reply to ibrahimz@yahoo.cn)
Thanks
Mr Ibrahim Zongo
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Anti-fraud resources:
